Chloe's hand was shaking as she was completely heartbroken after reading the email. She thought this job interview would be her last chance, hoping it would be enough to bounce back and provide for her and her daughter.
But a certain man dared to ruin her already messed-up life even more! He couldn't just sit still and let her live as a middle-aged woman trying to piece her life together!
She clenched her phone, trying her hardest not to cry because it would show that she had failed to live independently.
"That piece of shit!" Chloe cursed. She searched her ex-husband's contact and pressed call immediately. "Fucking jerk! How could he— I know he is a cheating bastard, but how could he do this to his own daughter?! Does he not realize that doing this to me will also hurt Mackenzie?!"
Chloe was so sure that Vincent stopped those two companies from accepting her. Vincent was the one with the power to do this kind of thing. His company had a lot of branches and cooperation with other corporations, so it wouldn't be difficult for Vincent to tell those smaller companies to discard her job application if they wanted to continue the cooperation. fr eewebnovel.com
Naturally, those companies decided to save their asses first.
The phone beeped many times until there was a long beep. Vincent didn't pick up the call.
"Damn it!"
Chloe tried calling him a few more times, hoping that he would pick up the call. She didn't know what she would say to that bastard, but she wanted to vent her anger first.
Unfortunately, Vincent was uncontactable right now.
Chloe scoffed, "Maybe that bastard is laughing his ass off right now, thinking about how desperate I must be to get a job to feed Mackenzie…."
…
"Am I really a useless woman who can't do anything?" Chloe asked herself. She started to have doubts, maybe even fear. Fear about how she might need to return to Vincent and kiss his feet, begging for his forgiveness…
Chloe bit her lower lip, trying hard not to cry as she refused to return to the same tormenting life with Vincent.
She got up defeatedly and bought two sandwiches from the nearest 7-Eleven for Mackenzie's dinner. She had little to no money to pick Mackie up from her school with Uber, but her school was private, and there was no bus stop.
She arrived at Mackie's school and saw the little girl standing in front of the school gate. She looked pissed. Maybe it was that Jaden boy messing around with her again.
Chloe got out of the car and approached her daughter, "Mackie, what's wrong?"
…
Mackie looked up to her Mommy and grabbed her hand instantly, "Mommy, I wanna go home…."
"Okay, let's go home, okay?"
Mackenzie obediently followed her Mommy to the Uber car, and they returned to the Motel. Mackenzie was silent the whole time, even after changing her clothes and eating a sandwich as dinner in the Motel room.
"Mackie, what's wrong? Can you tell Mommy?" Chloe asked.
Mackenzie finally looked up to her Mommy, and tears started glazing in her eyes.
"Oh no, don't cry!" Chloe kneeled in front of Mackenzie and wiped the tears building at the edge of her eyes. "What's wrong? Is it Jaden again?"
"Yes, Mommy…" Mackenzie nodded weakly. "He said that he heard his Mommy, Auntie Jada, was kissing with Daddy, and Daddy told Auntie Jada that he… Uhm… he won't pay for my school."
"Mommy, Jaden said that Mackie will be expelled from the school because I can't pay…." Mackenzie stared at Chloe, begging for an assurance, "Mommy, it's not true, right? Why would Daddy do that?"
Again, Chloe was torn between telling Mackenzie the truth about her cheating bastard father or continuing to defend him. Had she followed her ego, she would say outright that Vincent was a cheating bastard with no remorse or love, even for his own daughter.
But at the same time, she didn't want to scar Mackenzie for life.
Chloe hugged Mackenzie gently and caressed her hair, "Of course, it's not true! You will continue going to school every day, of course."
"But, what about Jaden…"
"He is just speaking nonsense! Just ignore him!"
"Um…" Mackenzie rested his head on her Mommy's shoulder. "Mommy, I want to go home."
"We're at home now."
"Not here, I mean… our home with Daddy! I want to meet Daddy!"
"That… we can't do that, Mackie. Your Daddy is still too busy," Chloe said. "Just stay here for a while, okay?"
"I don't wanna!" Mackenzie started struggling and pushed her mother away. She looked mad and threw a tantrum, "I wanna go home!"
"D—Dear, we will stay—"
"I wanna go home! I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" Mackenzie started stomping the floor and cried out loud.
"Sshhh! Not too loud—"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Chloe and Mackenzie were shocked when a loud banging noise came from the wall, followed by a loud yell, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Mackenzie trembled as she had never felt as much fear like this. She hugged her Mommy for protection, and Chloe immediately put her on the bed. "Don't be too loud, okay?"
"M—Mommy, who is that?"
"That's a stranger, of course. You can't be too loud because they also need rest."
"W—Will he hurt us?"
"No, as long as you're not yelling and crying, of course," Chloe said. She kissed Mackenzie's forehead. "Sleep early tonight. You must be tired, right?"
"Um…" Mackenzie stopped sobbing because she was more terrified than ever, afraid that her voice would be heard. She whispered, "Mommy, I want to leave this picnic and return home. I'm scared…."
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